safelicell has developed a patent-pending, solid-state polymer electrolyte material, called lithium flex, for use in lithium-ion batteries. the material takes the form of a light, strong, flexible film that can be wrapped or bent into different shapes without breaking, and contains no combustible or corrosive materials. at present, the safelicell hopes to enter the market by targeting the battery needs of biomedical and other miniature devices, but the technology could be also be used in consumer electronics.

got an idea for greener chemistry? submit your own

a battery is an energy storage device. fuel cells, however, are energy conversion devices. they allow the conversion of chemical energy to electrical energy. we are working to develop high performance fuel cells using the most efficient and cost effective materials.

although effective in imparting fire retardancy, some of these halogenated fr are extremely toxic, environmentally persistent and leach out from polymers increasing our risk to a variety of health disorders, including cancer. realizing this hazard, the use of certain types of halogenated fr has already been banned by the european union and in several states in u.s.a. still, over a billion pounds of fr additives are used commercially worldwide each year.

the umass lowell research team has developed a new class of non-halogenated flame retardant materials by transforming naturally occurring phenols into polymeric fr additives. the synthesis can be performed using clean and environmentally friendly biocatalytic / biomimetic methods as well as using conventional chemical methods. one of the raw materials used is cardanol (a natural phenol) – an inexpensive, renewable and biodegradable byproduct (oil) derived from cashew nut processing.

this project demonstrates the ability to transform a waste byproduct obtained from a renewable source into a value added product with the potential to replace toxic halogenated fr. this new class of fr can eliminate or reduce the use of toxic halogenated fr, contribute to preserving our ecosystem and have a profound positive impact on people’s health and lives.

energynow! correspondent dan goldstein explored how innovative carbon capture and storage, or ccs, technologies could keep carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and help prevent the climate from changing.

“the same types of materials that are used in shampoo and conditioners were materials that we thought we could use in this particular instance to capture carbon,” said bob perry, a chemist with general electric. “with the co2 we’ve captured, we now have it in a confined space and can move that toward someplace for storage, for sequestration.”

ccs may be key to reducing carbon emissions, but installing it on america’s coal-fired power plants won’t be cheap. “the consumer is going to see an increase in the cost of electricity of 5 to 10 cents per kilowatt hour,” said gary rochelle, a chemical engineer at the university of texas in austin who has developed a technology to raise carbon dioxide out of power plant smokestack emissions. “that’s a 50 to 100 percent increase in what they’ll be paying for electricity.”

“bisphenol-a, research is showing more and more, could lead to diabetes, obesity, early puberty, cancer, a whole range of problems,” said erika schreder of the washington toxics coalition.

canada now lists bpa as a toxic substance. the european union and at least seven states have restricted its use. but the federal government has not taken any regulatory action. the environmental protection agency has listed bpa as a chemical of concern, and the food and drug administration says there’s “some concern about the potential effects of bpa on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children.”

“the public basically wants safer materials. they don’t like that someone isn’t minding the store,” said andy ingrejas, director of safer chemicals healthy families.

“if we can’t get washington to address these problems in a way that really benefits public health, but also benefits the business environment, we’ll see more private efforts in the marketplace. we’re seeing more companies start to address, start to adopt their own chemical policies trying to weed out the known bad chemicals.”

though industry groups like the american chemistry council say “bpa has been safely used for decades,” concerned families, some retailers and interest groups are working to overhaul outdated u.s. chemicals policies so that health and safety information is publicly available.